You might be thinking, “Hallelujah”, or “Glory”. Those are great words, indeed, but the most anointed word is a practical word that needs to get down into the very fiber of your being – where it can radically alter the way you think and do things. This will be a bit of a faith-exersize as I share with you 3 ways to really see your life arise to a higher level. So get ready to be changed!

Psalm 27:6And NOW shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: Therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord. [kjv]

When all Hell seems like it’s about to break loose on your life, you’ve got to know the secret that David used when he too had his back up against the wall.

1. The Lord IS My Light. When David was faced with opposition, he refused to somehow think he was in the dark, or didn’t know what to do – no. David lived in the brightness, in the powerful glow of the presence of God in his present moment – “The Lord IS (not “was” or “will be”) my light!” Say this out loud: “Right NOW I’m not in the dark!”

2. I Simplify My Life. David wasn’t the schizophrenic leader like King Saul was. He wasn’t “loving God” at one moment and then getting angry with his family, staff or volunteers at another – no. David had just “one thing” on his agenda every morning – Seeking God. Say this out loud: “Right NOW I’m simplifying my life.”

3. I’m Not Waiting for Victory. In verse 6, David used a good, old-fashioned, faith-filled word: “NOW!” (See also: Heb. 11:1). Even before the battle took place, David took control of his spirit, mind, and emotions; and in effect said…

“I know my enemies are trying to move in on me, trying to make me fearful, overwhelmed with anxiety, and trying to cause me to cower in discouragement; but right NOW my head is going to be held high. In fact RIGHT NOW I look down on my enemies. I’m so charged-up with faith right NOW that I’m going to sing a song and whistle a tune in the presence of mine enemies, because I know on Whom I have believed!”

Say this out loud: “Right NOW I’m taking charge of my life.”

Don’t allow procrastination to rob you of your blessing! Make a concrete decision today that things are going to be different!

Prayer-2-Pray“Lord, please forgive me for always wishing and hoping that things will get better. I want to begin to use my faith, and adopt this faith-filled word: “NOW”, and I choose to do it NOW! In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen!”

What does a rabbit’s foot and guardian angels have to do with this article? Keep reading and find out…

“And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law. ” (2 Chronicles 15:2–3, NKJV)

There’s so much in just these two verses.

“The Lord is with you while you are with Him.” We often pray the prayer, “Lord, just be with us….” It’s a nice prayer to pray, but God tells us how to have the Lord with you: Be with Him. Instead of asking the Lord to tag along with you, like some sort of guardian angel, or lucky rabbit’s foot, we need to be much with Him.

This next part leapt off the pages to me: “For a long time Maui has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law.”

1. WITHOUT RELATIONSHIP Think of that, “without the true God”. It’s like living your whole life thinking and doing one thing, but the true reality is simply a figment of your imagination. In the context, Israel was getting involved in idol worship. They thought Ashram (v. 16) represented a powerful god, but it was merely statue. It would be like if my son talked to my guitar saying, “Daddy, I ask you to help me now.” I would have to grab him and say, “Hey, over here! I’m not that piece of wood!” I think of so many here in the Hawaii – living without God. Everyday, driving to work, not knowing the sweet presence of the Lord. ‘O how it must change!

2. WITHOUT REVELATION “without a teaching priest”. I like how Ezekiel puts it… “And they shall teach My people the difference between the holy and the unholy, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.” (Ezekiel 44:23, NKJV) ‘O to receive and walk-in revelation knowledge!

3. WITHOUT RULES “without the law”. Now, I would be the first one to tell you, that Christianity isn’t a bunch of rules and regulations, but I’ve found that we can be so “free” that no longer have standards of righteousness. I see believers posting pictures on the internet of them drinking alcohol, smoking, and swearing . How can we really know the way if we’ve lost our compass, our sense of direction, and personal holiness? How can we show others the way if we, ourselves don’t know where we’re going ourselves? We’re going “without”.

…Without the presence of God
…Without the Bible
…Without daily devotions
…Without convictions and standards
…Without a prayer-life
… Without power
…Without direction

The Lord never meant for any one of us to go without. He fills the hunger soul with good things. Are you hungry enough to go to Him today? Don’t be one of those who goes without. Allow the Lord to do a work in your life today.

Prayer:
“Lord, I don’t want to “go without”. I need a stronger relationship with You today. Help me to draw near to You today, I pray. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

Dust mites love dead skin and some of the best places they feast on are pillows, bed covers, and blankets. This is not meant to freak you out, (but it may have). It’s more to share the spiritual analogy between “dust” and “sleepy Christianity”.

Isaiah 52 says, “Awake, awake! Shake yourself from the dust, arise!”

“DUST”= SLEEPY CHRISTIANITY
Why? Because you don’t know it’s there until you get up close. Sometimes we distance ourselves from people and the church so that they won’t know what’s really going on in our life. Because if you get up-close to me you’ll see that there’s a lot of… Dust. And, dust only comes from one thing – Neglect.

– Dusty Bible
– Dusty Prayer Closet
– Dusty, nasty Attitudes

THE RESPONSIBILITY I HAVE TO WAKE-UP

The Scripture says I have to “shake” myself. The preacher can nudge you, but you’re the only one who can “shake” you. Your friends can try to shake you, They’ll say things like: “You really shouldn’t be doing that. What are you doing?!”, but you’ll just shake it off. You’ve got to shake yourself! It your responsibility. No one can do it, but you.

THIS IS MY WAKE-UP CALL

It’s not that you’re a “bad” person, or a “sinner”, it’s just that me and you, we have neglected our “beautiful garments” (Isaiah 52:1). We have to “put them on”. These are the…

It’s time to toss that old pillow of sleepy Christianity, and begin a fresh new day with the One who gave His all for you. Don’t be another one who bites the dust, (or is bitten by the “Dust”). What do you say?

1. I have the most amazing son in the world. Last night I watched some old videos we made together, and it brought me to tears at just how talented and brilliant a kid he is. I’m beginning to see how blind I’ve been – only seeing his messy room, or the chores he hans’t done. My son needs his Daddy’s encouragement more than his correction.

2. I don’t spend nearly enough time with my son. As my son was getting ready for his trip to Chile, I thought, “This will be good for him – he’ll learn something from the experience.” Little did I know, I’d learn something too. As my son is away, I miss those times of just hanging out with this amazing young man.

3. Ministering to people can never be more important that ministering to my son. I know this in theory, but sometimes my son can get the left-overs of my day. I know he must feel cheated and frustrated some of the time. My son will never be able to make sense out of the way this can make him feel. We have to make our kids feel special by demonstrating to them that they really are important.

4. Priorities can make or break a family. Paying more attention to my computer screen at home sends a strong message to my family, “I’d rather spend time with this than spend time with you.” I never want to convey that to my family. Work hard at work, then play hard at home. Never get those two things twisted.

5. Being a Father is one of the most awesome blessings in life. I would never trade my son for a billion dollars. In fact, it’s because I have a son is proof that I am blessed and rich indeed. My son is the greatest blessing I have in my life. In him I see my beautiful wife, my self, and I see a young man who is so handsome, strong, gifted, and who has wisdom far beyond his years. I feel a sense of honor and privilege that God Himself would choose me to be his Father.

We’re all familiar with procrastination. “I know I should do it today, but… I’ll do it next week.” But as I was praying, I came up with a term that described the way I feel many times: “psychological procrastination”. This is where you’re at church, or at home, and you begin to think about getting closer to the Lord, or you’re wanting to have a more passionate faith. But then you think within yourself, “I’m not really feeling it right now. I will get closer to the Lord, but just not today. Maybe next week I’ll get something out of church or the sermon.”

And it goes on week after week – a whole year goes by and you’re thinking, “Where has the time gone? My life needs to go to another level!” Here’s the kicker though. We get excited for a day, or week at most, but then gradually decline into our typical ‘mode’, whatever that happens to be for you. But there needs to be a way to really break free from this “psychological procrastination”, so that a change can really take place, and that fruit would follow.

Maybe it’s just being aware that psychological procrastination is taking place, is the first step to change.

I’m currently taking our Youth at King’s Cathedral through a series I’ve entitled, “Waking-Up Sleepy Christianity”.

Here’s some “Sleeping Statistics” for You…

If you’re between the age of 13-25, about half of you fell-asleep unintentionally this month.

If you’re between the age of 18-25, 5% of you fell-asleep while driving this month.

Did you know that you will sleep-away about a 1/3 of your life?

Other words for “Sleep”= Siesta, Shut-eye, Catnap, Nod-off, Power nap; Slumber, Take a snooze, or Crash.

Anyone here ever fall-asleep in Class, School? How about in Church? True story: My Pastor in Chicago told me a little story of when he was in High School. After school he got on the bus & happened to fall asleep. That wasn’t too bad except… his head eventually made it’s way over to the chest of the lady sitting next to him. He didn’t realize what was going on. As he slowly came to his senses, his face was right in the breast of a big black lady! He was so shocked & embarrassed he didn’t know what to do. But the lady said to him, (as she put her hand on the back of his head), “There, there, it’s ok, you just rest right here with Mama.”

But What is “Sleep”? Wikipedia:

Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles

But if I were to defineSpiritual Sleepiness I would say: it is spiritual state of being characterized by reduced (or completely absent) spiritual alertness. With it, there’s little or no spiritual activity. All spiritual progress comes to a screeching halt.

The Apostle Paul says, “It’s HIGH TIME to awake out of sleep!” [Rom. 13:11] “High Time” is the equivalent of it being 12-noon, when the sun is shinning it’s brightest!

Can you imagine someone being totally asleep outside, laying out under the blistering sun of summer? A little drool is starting to form. Face is totally sun-burnt. You’d think, “Whoa? What an idiot?!!” And yet this is the sad state of many Christians today. God says, “It’s time to wake-up!”

I was shocked the other day. During our youth leaders meeting I found myself in a room full of young adults cheering like it was the Superbowl. What was it… Free pizza? Monster drinks all around? No, it was the sound of leaders cheering after someone shared a simple testimony of what God had done in their life that week. At that moment I felt such joy bubbling-out of me. We were smiling, laughing, and having the time of our life. The best part of it, was that it wasn’t initiate by me.

These youth leaders tapped-in to a biblical principle… “rejoice with those who rejoice” (Rom. 12:15). Ideally we want people to cheer for us. We love it when someone says, “You’re awesome!” But when we see other people excited about something, or getting the ‘ol “pat on the back” we tend to be jealous with envy, or… Yawn with indifference. But love is a 2-way street that must be traversed both ways. I, for one am so impressed and godly-proud by our IG Leadership Team. They’re traveling down this road well, and together we’re going to do great things!